Portfolio Review
Artstation
Demo Reel
3D Modeling and Stills
https://www.artstation.com/luke1741/albums/6242931
Videos/Animation
https://www.artstation.com/luke1741/albums/6242930
Looking for some advice on what I should focus on.
I consider myself a generalist that has done alot of everything, from 3D Modeling, Animation, VFX, Unity 3D, and even some filmmaking and scripting. I have been looking for work but have not found any permanent jobs yet. I have landed some freelance gigs so I have been building my reputation on Upworks.
I would prefer to find a permanent remote job at the moment doing any of my skillset, but I heard freelancing has the potential to make more money.
I believe that freelancing favors being a generalist in order to apply for more jobs, while specializing favors getting permanent jobs. Furthermore, generalizing supports other side hustles I am working on like making YouTube videos, Video games, and indie films.
Replies
Modeling is solid But I can see 2 "small" problems
Your stuff has topical raw render cg look => all clean sharp and in focus =>> easy fix add atmospheric prospective blur the edges [using depth thickness or handpainted mask ] add something to unify everything like photo filter or noise
You have to spend some time learning how to texture you models with more then single coat of paint -> making them unique
I agree with carv, I think you can push your portfolio pieces a bit more through some photoshop editing to get rid of that classic render look.
Thanks for your feedback. I am not sure what depth thickness is, or how a mask applies.
Do you mean atmospheric prospective as in fog? I am aware that things in the distance gets more foggy, but I don't think anything in my renders has objects that are that far away. Except for the mountains in the tank images, but they are already foggy from the image alone.
Its accessory maps just like curvature or cavity you can render that in most software or fake it in photoshop , use is rather simple just blur a copy of your model and use for example depth mask as layer mask things that are close will be sharp and in focus things that are far will be blurred
Most things in art a lie anyway
Atmospheric prospective is pretty much rendering the air things that are far loosing focus contest and coloration its like dirty screen in front of everything
Your train is pretty good candidate for this kind of treatment here's an example for you
Ok I think your talking about depth of field. I understand that cameras can be set up with a shallow depth of field in order to focus on a particular distance or object, and a deep depth of field where everything's in focus.
It seems more like an artistic choice, rather than a way to make things look real. Ideally 3d models should look realistic with a shallow or deep depth of field correct?
its entirely up to you if you like to use any of above mentioned It help to integrate object into a scene and remove some of the cardboard cutout look
Yes what you are trying to do is imitate how human eye and camera works , we see in zones, central zone which is all in focus sharp and colorful and periphery that's blurry , black and white , camera imitate human eye more or less
Why not try adding atmosphere to some of your renders? Everything around us in real life has atmosphere, like particles of different things. I feel that's one of the biggest ways to add realism/depth/life to a project and escape the more cg look (unless that is your goal of course!). I feel I should give an example. Take a look at these two renders:
Without atmosphere:
With:
I feel it just gives it that final push. Now, a caveat. It all depends on what you are going for. If you want cartoonish vs real. Whether you want super clean renders for product marketing or gritty real. Anyways, this is all just my opinion and everything should be taken with a few grains of salt haha.
I want to say that I remember your previous work that you put up and I feel this is a great improvement (especially the car and train projects), and I'm glad you listened to the critiques you received. Good for you. Keep up the dedication!
bump
A lot of your objects look like you're modeling a prop and then just dropping a shader on them. That might not be a bad thing for product vis. Your latest props look good modeling wise, but the blue drill, the shaders and rendering looks kinda bad.
Your tank... Did you use environment assets you bought for the foliage/environment assets in that scene? If you did, you need to state that. If you did not; your foliage and tank are in two different leagues. The tank is really simple; modeling and texturing.
Your animation level is not up to industry standard, so I'd remove the animation.
Your car looks sick, good job on that :)
Thanks for the reply. Can you go more into more detail of what's lacking with the steam shovel and train?
I would say your portfolio is still far from being AAA quality, your textures are not up to standard. I feel you need to put some time in educating yourself on how to create more realistic materials. Online you can find great tutorials on how to texture like this one https://www.artstation.com/learning/courses/owg/substance-painter-pushing-your-texturing-further/chapters/2eM/layering-detail
Also if you want a job as a prop artist in say AAA you need to start creating props with more challenging shapes, a simple hairdryer etc wont cut it.
Good luck!
up
I made a demo reel